Smart FM/AM auto-scanner

ABSTRACT

A radio tuning method for a vehicle includes sensing that the vehicle is traveling out of a first broadcast range of a first radio station that a radio of the vehicle is currently tuned to. The first radio station broadcasts first content. A second radio station is identified having a second broadcast range that the vehicle will be in when the vehicle is no longer in the first broadcast range. The identifying includes determining that the second radio station broadcasts second content that is substantially similar to the first content broadcasted by the first radio station. A user of the vehicle is provided with an option to switch tuning of the radio from the first radio station to the second radio station.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of tuning to a new radiostation when a user's vehicle travels out of the broadcast range of acurrently-tuned radio station.

2. Description of the Related Art

When a driver of a motor vehicle travels out of the broadcast range of aradio station he is listening to, the driver must initiate a scan ofavailable frequencies by pressing a scan button. Once the driver finds astation that is similar to the station he is currently listening to, hemust then again operate the scan button in order to stop the scanningand select the new station as the frequency that the radio should betuned to. A problem is that the operation of the scan button andselecting a new station diverts the driver's attention from the drivingtask.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention may provide a smart automotive FM/AM auto-scanner which,as the vehicle moves out of reception range of a currently-tuned radiostation, may automatically (e.g., without user intervention) scanfrequencies and find an FM/AM station that is most similar to thecurrently-tuned station. As used herein, stations may be “similar” inthat they broadcast the same genre of music or talk. Thus, if thevehicle is traveling out of the broadcast range of a currently-tuned tojazz station, then the radio may automatically find another jazz stationthat is within reception range of the radio.

In another embodiment, the invention includes automatically displaying alist of receivable stations that are most similar to the currently-tunedstation that is moving out of range. The receivable stations may beordered in the list from most similar to least similar to thecurrently-tuned station. The user may be enabled to select and listen toeach of the receivable stations on the list.

In yet another embodiment, if the station going out of reception rangeis broadcasting a syndicated program, then the invention includesoffering to, or automatically, switching tuning to another station onwhich the same syndicated program is being broadcast.

The invention comprises, in one form thereof, a radio tuning method fora vehicle, including sensing that the vehicle is traveling out of afirst broadcast range of a first radio station that a radio of thevehicle is currently tuned to. The first radio station broadcasts firstcontent. A second radio station is identified having a second broadcastrange that the vehicle will be in when the vehicle is no longer in thefirst broadcast range. The identifying includes determining that thesecond radio station broadcasts second content that is substantiallysimilar to the first content broadcasted by the first radio station. Auser of the vehicle is provided with an option to switch tuning of theradio from the first radio station to the second radio station.

The invention comprises, in another form thereof, a radio tuning methodfor a vehicle, including sensing that the vehicle is traveling out of afirst broadcast range of a first radio station. The first radio stationbroadcasts first content. A second radio station is identified having asecond broadcast range that the vehicle will be in when the vehicle isno longer in the first broadcast range. The second radio stationbroadcasts second content substantially similar to the first contentbroadcasted by the first radio station. The identifying includesquerying a database of radio stations. The database specifies respectivecontent broadcasted by the radio stations in the database. A user of thevehicle is provided with an option to switch tuning of the radio fromthe first radio station to the second radio station.

The invention comprises, in yet another form thereof, a radio tuningmethod for a vehicle, including sensing that the vehicle is travelingout of a first broadcast range of a first radio station. The first radiostation broadcasts first content. A second radio station is identifiedbroadcasting second content that is substantially similar to the firstcontent broadcasted by the first radio station. The identifying includesperforming a background scan of radio stations that the vehicle iswithin broadcast range of. A user of the vehicle with an option toswitch tuning of the radio from the first radio station to the secondradio station.

An advantage of the present invention is that it may reduce driverdistraction. The invention may eliminate the need for the driver todirect his attention to the radio to perform a scan when the radiostation is no longer within reception range. Also eliminated may be theneed for the driver to be attentive to the scanned stations so that thedriver knows when to stop the scan.

Another advantage of the present invention is that it may avoid thesituation in which the driver performs a scan when a particular radiostation is playing a commercial, and then the driver cannot ascertainthat the particular station is a desirable station. The presentinvention may also avoid the situation in which the driver performs ascan and stops the scan at a selected similar station, but the selectedstation is not the most similar station that is within broadcast range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention,and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and theinvention itself will be better understood by reference to the followingdescription of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a smartFM/AM auto-scanning method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating another embodiment of a smart FM/AMauto-scanning method of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example database of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates another example database of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating yet another embodiment of a smartFM/AM auto-scanning method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments hereinafter disclosed are not intended to be exhaustiveor limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the followingdescription. Rather the embodiments are chosen and described so thatothers skilled in the art may utilize its teachings.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown a vehicle 10 moving in direction 12. As vehicle 10 continues tomove in direction 12, vehicle 10 may move farther away from first radiostation 14, and thus may move out of the reception range of first radiostation 14. Also as vehicle 10 continues to move in direction 12,vehicle 10 may move closer to a second radio station 16, and thus maymove into the reception range of second radio station 16. Second radiostation 16 may be similar to first radio station 14 in that stations 14and 16 broadcast the same genre of music or the same genre of talk.

Vehicle 10 may include an audio system 18 having a radio receiver 20communicatively coupled to a microprocessor 22 which, in turn, iscommunicatively coupled to a user interface 24. User interface 24 mayinclude a display 26 with a touch screen that a user may use to makeselections of options presented on display 26. Receiver 20 may receiveradio signals via antenna 28.

As vehicle 10 leaves the broadcast range of first station 14, audiosystem 18 may sense that the strength of the signal from station 14 isgetting lower. In response to sensing the weakening of the signal fromstation 14, audio system 18 may identify second station 16 as beingsimilar to station 14. Audio system 18 may include a transceiver 30including a second receiver for background frequency searching andidentification of similar stations. After sensing that first station 14is getting out of range and identifying similar station 16, audio system18 may present on display 26 a message such as “Your current station isgoing out of range. I've found a similar station in range . . .Switch?”. Audio system 18 may also present on display 26 a first touchbutton labeled “Yes”, and a second touch button labeled “No” with whichthe user may answer the question about switching. Alternatively, aftersensing that first station 14 is getting out of range and identifyingthe three most similar stations, audio system 18 may present on display26 a message such as “Your current station is going out of range. Hereare the top 3 most similar stations in range”. In one embodiment, thismessage may be an audible message instead of a visible message. Audiosystem 18 may also present on display 26 a three touch buttons eachlabeled with the frequency and/or call letters of a respective one ofthe three most similar stations. Below each of the touch buttons may bedisplayed the name of the artist and/or song that is currently playingon that station. By touching one of the touch buttons, the user mayswitch tuning to the respective similar station.

Another embodiment of a smart FM/AM auto-scanning method 200 of thepresent invention is illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 2. In a firststep 202, a radio detects that a current station is going out of range.For example, audio system 18 may determine that vehicle 10 is moving outof the reception range of first station 14, perhaps by detecting thatthe signal being received from station 14 is weakening.

In a next step 204, the radio finds stations in range that are similarto the current station in terms of genre by querying a local/remotedatabase, or by performing a background scan on all stations in rangeand using metadata from all stations in range. For example, audio system18 may find the three stations that are most similar to the currentstation by such querying or by performing background scans.

Next, in step 206, the user may be offered new stations to change to,and a countdown to when the user will lose the current station. Forexample, identifications of the three most similar stations may bepresented on display 26, with a selectable respective touch button beingpresented for each of the stations. Further, a countdown timer maypresent on display 26 the estimated time in minutes and seconds beforethe signal from the first station is no longer strong enough to besatisfactorily played on audio system 18.

In order to identify one or more stations that are similar to thecurrent station, audio system 18 may refer to and pull information froma database that is located either locally on the radio or in the cloud.FIG. 3 illustrates an example of such a database of the invention. Theweights may indicate what percentage of the station's programming iscomprised of each genre of music.

In the event that the database is located in the cloud, the database maybe dynamic and easily modified. Regardless, however, of whether thedatabase is locally stored in the radio or in the cloud, audio system 18may transmit the current GPS location of vehicle 10 and the genre of thecurrently tuned radio station to the database. If the database is in thecloud, transceiver 30 may be used to transmit this information. Inresponse, the database may transmit to audio system 18 informationidentifying one or more stations that are in range of vehicle 10 andsimilar to the currently tuned station. Audio system 18 may then presentthe station-identifying information on display 26 for selection by theuser, as described above.

In another embodiment, audio system 18 requests genre metadata from allstations in reception range. Transceiver 30 may be used for theserequests. In response, the stations in reception range may return toaudio system 18 the requested genre metadata. Audio system 18 may thentake the received metadata and create a database (FIG. 4) of thereceived metadata. Audio system 18 may then present to the user the mostsimilar stations, taking into account genre matching and the signalstrength of the similar stations. The weights may indicate whatpercentage of the station's programming is comprised of each genre ofmusic.

Yet another embodiment of a smart FM/AM auto-scanning method 500 of thepresent invention is illustrated in the flow chart of FIG. 5. In a firststep 502, it is sensed that a vehicle is traveling out of a firstbroadcast range of a first radio station that a radio of the vehicle iscurrently tuned to. The first radio station broadcasts first content.For example, audio system 18 may determine that vehicle 10 is moving outof the reception range of first station 14, perhaps by detecting thatthe signal being received from station 14 is weakening. Alternatively,audio system 18 may determine that vehicle 10 is moving out of thereception range of first station 14 by querying a database, such as thedatabase shown in FIG. 3, to ascertain the broadcast range of firststation 14. First station 14 may broadcast content of a certain genre ofmusic or talk, or a certain combination of genres in a certain ratio.

In a next step 504, a second radio station is identified having a secondbroadcast range that the vehicle will be in when the vehicle is nolonger in the first broadcast range. The identifying includingdetermining that the second radio station broadcasts second content thatis substantially similar to the first content broadcasted by the firstradio station. For example, audio system 18 may find, of the stationsthat will be in broadcast range, a station that is most similar to thecurrent station by querying a local or remote database, such as thedatabase shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, audio system 18 may perform abackground scan to sample stations whose signals can be received. Audiosystem 18 may then populate a database, such as the database shown inFIG. 4, with data associated with the sampled stations to therebyascertain which of the sampled stations both can be adequately receivedand broadcasts content that is most similar to the content of thecurrently-tuned station.

In a final step 506, the user may be provided with an option to switchtuning of the radio from the first radio station to the second radiostation. For example, a question such as “would you like to switch to asimilar station?” may be presented on display 26, with a selectabletouch button also being presented on display 26 for the user to providean affirmative response.

While this invention has been described as having an exemplary design,the present invention may be further modified within the spirit andscope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using itsgeneral principles. Further, this application is intended to cover suchdepartures from the present disclosure as come within known or customarypractice in the art to which this invention pertains.

What is claimed is:
 1. A radio tuning method for vehicle, comprising thesteps of: sensing that the vehicle is traveling out of a first broadcastrange of a first radio station that a radio of the vehicle is currentlytuned to, the first radio station broadcasting first content;identifying a second radio station having a second broadcast range thatthe vehicle will be in when the vehicle is no longer in the firstbroadcast range, the identifying including determining that the secondradio station broadcasts second content that is substantially similar tothe first content broadcast by the first radio station; presenting acountdown to the user indicating an estimated period of time remaininguntil the vehicle exits the first broadcast range of the first radiostation; and providing a user of the vehicle with an option to switchtuning of the radio from the first radio station to the second radiostation.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying step includesquerying a database of radio stations, the database specifyingrespective content broadcasted by the radio stations in the database. 3.The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying step includes performing abackground scan of radio stations that the vehicle is within broadcastrange of.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein performing the scan includesadding information to a database specifying respective contentbroadcasted by the radio stations in the database.
 5. The method ofclaim 3 wherein performing the scan includes adding metadata to adatabase, the metadata being broadcasted by the scanned radio stations.6. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensing step includes querying adatabase of radio stations, the database including informationindicating a broadcast range of the first radio station.
 7. A radiotuning method far a vehicle, comprising the steps of: sensing that thevehicle is traveling out of a first broadcast range of a first radiostation, the first radio station broadcasting first content; identifyinga second radio station having a second broadcast range that the vehiclewill be in when the vehicle is no longer in the first broadcast range,the second radio station broadcasting second content substantiallysimilar to the first content broadcast by the first radio station, theidentifying including querying a database of radio stations, thedatabase specifying respective content broadcasted by the radio stationsin the database; presenting a countdown to the user indicating anestimated period of time remaining until the vehicle exits the firstbroadcast range of the first radio station; and providing a user of thevehicle with an option to switch tuning of the radio from the firstradio station to the second radio station.
 8. The method of claim 7wherein the sensing step includes querying the database of radiostations, the database including information indicating a broadcastrange of the first radio station.
 9. A radio tuning method for avehicle, comprising the steps of: sensing that the vehicle is travelingout of a first broadcast range of a first radio station, the first radiostation broadcasting first content; identifying a second radio stationhaving a second broadcast range that the vehicle will be in when thevehicle is no longer in the first broadcast range, the second radiostation broadcasting second content substantially similar to the firstcontent broadcasted by the first radio station, the identifyingincluding querying a database of radio stations, the database specifyingrespective content broadcasted by the radio stations in the database,wherein the database includes a respective broadcast range radius ofeach of the radio stations in the database; and providing a user of thevehicle with an option to switch tuning of the radio from the firstradio station to the second radio station.
 10. The method of claim 9wherein the radio of the vehicle is tuned to the first radio stationduring at least the sensing and identifying steps.
 11. The method ofclaim 9 wherein the database includes information indicating whethereach of the respective radio stations in the database has a broadcastrange that the vehicle will be in when the vehicle is no longer in thefirst broadcast range.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein the databaseincludes geographic coordinates of the radio stations in the database.13. A radio tuning method for a vehicle, comprising the steps of:sensing that the vehicle is traveling out of a first broadcast range ofa first radio station, the first radio station broadcasting firstcontent; identifying second radio broadcasting second content that issubstantially similar to the first content broadcasted by the firstradio station, the identifying including performing a background scan ofradio stations that the vehicle is within broadcast range of; presentinga countdown to the user indicating an estimated period of time remaininguntil the vehicle exits the first broadcast range of the first radiostation; and providing a user of the vehicle with an option to switchtuning of the radio from the first radio station to the second radiostation.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the performing of thebackground scan includes adding information to a database specifyingrespective content broadcasted by the radio stations in the database.15. The method of claim 13 wherein performing the background scanincludes adding information to a database specifying respective contentbroadcasted by the radio stations in the database.
 16. The method ofclaim 13 wherein performing the scan includes adding metadata to adatabase, the metadata being broadcasted by the scanned radio stations.17. The method of claim 13 wherein the sensing step includes querying adatabase of radio stations, the database including informationindicating a broadcast range of the first radio station.